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Reading

You will learn to read Thai in a very short time (around 12-15 hours) by seeing the letter shapes as pictures that are associated with the sound of each letter.

Carrying a Cactus – Aaaah what a relief! – Wiggly legs คาว c-aah-w (no tone) – stench/fishy IMAGINE a cow walking along a long flat beach, leaving a trail of foul fish-smelling manure behind her!

You dont need to know the names of the letters to be able read. You only need to know the sound each letter makes: c as in cactus or w as in wiggle.

contortionist Doubled over	after several hours, sTomach is tired
Tortoise	Meditating ladyboy

At the same time, we use bizarre (and sometimes obscene) mnemonic visual story associations to help you to develop a large vocabulary quickly and easily without having to memorize word lists repetitively. The more outrageous and shocking the image, the better it will stick in your mind.

"wan" = day

"yen" = cold

"saai" (no tone) = sand

You can learn (and remember) all the letters within a few hours. When it comes to tones, however, we have a different approach.

Again, there is no need to learn complicated tables of tone rules. And when it comes to speaking correctly with the right tonality, you learn to apply the same tones you use in your own language. Yes, English has tones. Even Japanese has tones. We just use tones in a different way.

For instance, what we call the “rising tone” in Thai is exactly the same as asking a question in English. It is the same voice inflection. In the 'Rapid' Method, this is called the "Question Tone". The other tones are "Skeptical", "Emphatic" and "Chanting" tones. There is no fifth tone in the 'Rapid' Method: it is simply "no tone".

Question : "Is it warm?" "Is it สอง?" ("sohng?" = two).

Skeptical : "Are you sure?" "Are you ซ้าย?" ("saai?" uncertain = left).

Emphatic : "Wow!" "ข้าว!" (khaao! = rice)

Understanding and remembering the tones in the 'Rapid' Method is easy. It is also based on visual mnemonics :

The "surfing" tone marker

Boys and girls are sporty and so can surf down the wave with ease (yeah!). Falling or emphatic tone, as in "yeah!" Ladyboys are clumsy and get thrown up in the air by the wave. High-rising or skeptical tone, as in "really?"

Once you can read, and simply by paying attention to street signs and shop notices, you will be able to absorb Thai effortlessly from your environment

Signs like these will be a doddle!

You will pick up vocabulary and expressions, such as "fresh coffee", "inflammable gas", "all kinds of keys" and understand place names with ease.

Contrary to traditional educational practice, research has shown that the most effective and enjoyable way to become fluent in a language is by reading extensively. This may require some 'brain training' to acquire the stamina for reading (just like jogging or swimming), but once you can read a little bit and using bilingual texts, you will pick up idiomatic patterns very quickly.

Listening

Listening Comprehension comes from understanding the vocabulary in the context of a story or an interesting topic. Our teachers are patient and have a good sense of humor. They speak slowly and distinctly, and they will chat about the story you are reading or about a topic like eating out, or your family and background, or your interests.

And of course because you can read now, you will learn Thai through genuine stories – a much more fun way of learning a language than the same old situational scenarios used in every other language course.

Speaking

Speaking is in fact not a 'language’ ability. It is a muscle skill that you develop through muscle training… Communicating is a language ability, which you develop through comprehension that comes from reading and listening

In the 'Rapid' Method, you will develop accurate speaking skills from the beginning. The approach does not emphasize intellectual linguistic skills as in Japan, for instance, where students can read & write accurately, but cannot have even a simple conversation.

But speaking is something that you have to practice. You do so by enunciating clearly in a slow and exaggerated manner. Our teachers will work with you to help you read out aloud, so that you soon become fluent. You will develop a 'muscle memory' so that you don't have to think about what you are saying: you only have to have the intention of the idea you want to get across. Your muscles will do the rest.

Writing ?

There is no need to learn to write. Nearly every other language class will get you writing the alphabet out a thousand times, and then write down lists of words and sentences. Yes, there is some benefit to incorporating your muscle effort in helping to learn a language, but this is not the most effective way.

Much better to learn to type instead. You already know how to read, so it is just a matter of reading your computer keyboard if you want to write.

Besides, writing (or language composition) is an advanced skilled that even native speakers can't do well. The language is different for one. And you need a great deal of idiomatic and cultural knowledge about a language in order to express yourself well in writing. This comes from extensive recreational reading.

The 'Rapid' Method more or less ignores this component of language learning as it is something that arises naturally from wide reading and general fluency in the language over time.

Saying that, as you get more advanced in your studies, it does help to attempt to write letters and short stories. It will help you to develop a deeper understanding of how to express your ideas the Thai way.

The 'Rapid' Method is revolutionary. It turns most language learning concepts on its head. There is no need to learn the names of the letters. No need to learn more than a rudimentary grammar either. No need to write. (After all, once you've learnt to read the 'Rapid' way, writing simply becomes a matter of drawing.)

And no more boring, repetitive drills or flash cards or memorization exercises.

It's probably the fastest and easiest way to learn a language in the world.

Our Curriculum

You will learn fast at Thai Language Solutions.

Each level consists of several 16-hour courses that usually take one month to complete. Here is the curriculum plan for the Thai Beginner's Introductory Course :

• - Lesson 1. Learn (and instantly remember) the top 21 consonants: บ ป ข พ ผ ก ค ด ต ท น ม ง ว ร ล ส ศ ษ อ ห
• - Lesson 2. Understand the construction of Thai words (and why you don't need spaces between them). Pronounce words accurately. Learn to say the tones right. Learn (and instantly remember) the first few vowels. Be able to read some Thai words. Learn (and remember) about 10-20 Thai words.
• - Lesson 3, 4, 5. Learn some more vowels and read (and understand) around 50 Thai words. Read a Thai story out loud.
• - Lesson 6, 7, 8. Learn the rest of the letters. Count from 1 to 100. Some counting words. Read an easy story and have a simple conversation. (And understand and remember!)
• - Lesson 9,10,11. Understand how the tone system works. Tone marks. Singing words. Dead words. Fat & thin ladyboys. Learn (and remember) around 50 more words. Read a story. Talk about yourself and find out about your teacher – in Thai!
• - The remaining lessons are all topic based, and will incorporate incremental development of your reading, listening and speaking skills; as well as idiomatic language patterns. Plus the use of counting words (or classifiers). You will acquire a working vocabulary of around 200 extra words.
• - Lesson 12. Going Shopping. Reading & understanding signs. Buying and selling. Money. Bargaining.
• - Lesson 13. Taxi Thai. How to get around. Place names. Directions. Using the skytrain, underground metro and the buses.
• - Lesson 14. More about yourself. Your profession. Your work. Your hobbies. Your sports. Your interests.
• - Lesson 15. Eating Out. Reading and understanding the menu. Ordering food.
• - Lesson 16. Talking about the weather.